Review: Avengers Assemble #5

Posted By:Wonder Worlock

Wed, 07/11/2012 - 18:30

This may not be what everyone was looking for in Avengers Assemble #5, but my heart was lifted a little bit in its beginning pages as we see again the great Guardians of the Galaxy working together to save an alien planet from takeover by the Badoon.

And yes, it is indeed – or seems to be – Peter Quill (Star-Lord), Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, Drax and Bug working side-by-side these “movie” Avengers as they theorize why Thanos is so anxious to take over the Earth. (Because the Galactic Council says it is forbidden, of course).

Oh, and of course there is something Thanos wants on Earth – and no, it is not the Infinity Gems which are mentioned by Illuminati members Cap and Iron Man.

With both Thanos – or at least his taint – and the Guardians in the same book, you would think we may have some mention of how Peter and the mad Titan returned from the Fault cancerverse and where the devil Richard Rider may be, but no such explanation in this issue. In fact, from the beginning pages, it looks like the Guardians have been back and operating as a team for some time before they were led to the Badoon invasion via Thanos. Hmm --

Putting the Marvel Cosmic miasma out of my mind for a second, I did find this Bendis/Bagley product highly enjoyable, especially the cosmic aspects. At the end of this issue, we even have the team heading out again into the ether so we can really see how Brian handles the more cosmic aspects of the Avengers and the Guardians -- and the writer has hinted on Twitter that there are more team members to be seen in some future (hopefully not the 31st century, lol).

I enjoyed the way that Thor welcomed back Gamora and Iron Man was familiar with the group from “real times” in Marvel’s past. And Hawkeye’s convo with Rocket Raccoon is just priceless.

If you are looking for any threads of DnA storytelling, none are to be found here. But if you are looking for the familiar Guardians of old CBN fave Guardians of the Galaxy, I can gladly say Bendis and Bagley do a bang-up job (literally) on their return.